Spectra program

Photo Credit: Ash McLellan

spectra

DANCENORTH | AUSTRALIA & JAPAN DIRECTED & CHOREOGRAPHED BY KYLE PAGE & AMBER HAINES

SPECTRA

DANCENORTH | AUSTRALIA & JAPAN EVEREST THEATRE SEYMOUR CENTRE 11–15 JANUARY 60MINS Direction & Choreography Kyle Page & Amber Haines Set Design Tatsuo Miyajima Lighting Design Niklas Pajanti Costume Design Fiona Todd Sound Design & Live Music Jiro Matsumoto Performers & Choreography Kyle Page, Amber Haines, Jenni Large, Mason Kelly, Josh Mu, Rie Makino & Misako Tanaka Production Manager Murray Dempsey Stage Manager Melanie Stanton General Manager Deanna Smart

SPECTRA Spectra draws together visionary artists from Australia and Japan in a collaboration that spans continents and cultures. Blending contemporary dance, Japanese butoh, live music and visual art, Spectra explores the Buddhist philosophy of ‘dependent origination’ which states that the secret of the universe lies in the nature of causality – the way one thing leads to another.

It examines how all things that come into being – whether it be a human life, a thought or a galaxy – depend on an endless chain of preceding causes and conditions. Co-commissioned by OzAsia Festival, Spectra is produced and performed by Dancenorth and features

guest performers from Batik dance company in Tokyo. It illuminates the potency of intentional actions and their inherent power to impact the future.

KYLE PAGE & AMBER HAINES Kyle Page (Artistic Director of Dancenorth) and his wife and long-time collaborator Amber Haines (Associate Artistic Director of Dancenorth) have both had extensive careers in dance, both in Australia and internationally.

Together they have co-directed three full-length works for Dancenorth including Syncing Feeling, Spectra and Rainbow Vomit. These works have been performed across Australia and at major international arts festivals including Sydney Festival, Brisbane Festival, OzAsia Festival and MOFO. Their work has received numerous nominations from both the Helpmann Awards and Australian Dance Awards. Over the years, they have each worked with many renowned choreographers including Garry Stewart, Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek and Stephanie Lak. Kyle began his professional dance career at Dancenorth in 2004 and in 2014 he returned as Artistic Director of the company. In 2015 Kyle was awarded the coveted Australian Institute of Management 30 under 30 and was listed as one of North Queensland’s top 50 most influential people. In 2016 he was chosen to participate in the Australia Council’s Arts Leaders Program, recognized as the AIM Emerging Leader of the Year for the North/Far North Queensland Region and was again listed one of the top 50 most influential people in North Queensland.

INHERITOR ALBUM COMPANY 605 | CANADA

“POWERFUL.” DANCE VICTORIA

In 2006 Amber attained a Bachelor of Dance from the Victorian College of the Arts graduating with the Mary Orloff Prize for Most Outstanding Dancer. She has performed throughout Australia, Europe, United Kingdom, North, South and Central America, Canada and Japan, and is a multi-award nominee for both the Australian Dance Awards and the Helpmann Awards for Best Dance Performance by a Female. She is also an emerging photographer and has created extensive photographic material for Dancenorth.

DANCENORTH Dancenorth is a contemporary dance company based in Townsville, Tropical North Queensland. An epicenter for artistic exchange and collaboration Dancenorth balances a dynamic regional presence with a commitment to creating bold, adventurous and critically acclaimed contemporary dance.

Under the Artistic Direction of Kyle Page, Dancenorth delivers an ambitious and far-reaching program including the creation and presentation of new work, national and international touring, professional development opportunities for dancers and choreographers as well as national and international residencies and research projects.

As a creative hub for choreographic development and research, Dancenorth makes a significant contribution to Australia’s cultural ecology by valuing and supporting risk and innovation as a means of extending contemporary dance as an art form.

CARRIAGEWORKS 15–19 JANUARY